(JNS) Former Knesset speaker and Likud Party No. 2 Yuli Edelstein announced this week that he will challenge Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership of the party.

“We have held elections four times. The Likud is the largest faction in the Knesset. Four times we have failed to form a Likud-led national government,” Edelstein told Channel 12. “If we don’t engage in some serious introspection, we’ll remain in opposition for many years.”

Edelstein emphasized that the competition was between himself and the current government, which he described as “simply dangerous for the State of Israel,” and not with Netanyahu.